Chapter 130 - Damn Reincarnation

Lightning Flame

Spirit lightning could not threaten Melkith, and there had been signs of an impending explosion. That was why she did not scream even when the blast engulfed her.

But she was astonished. She knew how this explosion had happened. Through the cracks in the barrier, the spirits of the World Tree drifting outside had entered...

And become lightning. Unable to withstand the sudden increase, the lightning flame had burst.

'... Is that even possible?'

Melkith steadied herself after being thrown back by the explosion and shook off the electric current wrapped around her body. It looked as though she were brushing off dust.

["It is impossible."]

It was not Levin who answered. Yanos, the taciturn Earth Spirit King, had spoken to Melkith for once.

["A spirit cannot escape its essential nature."]

Primal spirits dwelled in wind, fire, earth, and the like. Without even selves of their own, they could be called another form of mana. But they could not actually be used like mana, and a primal spirit dwelling in the earth was, ultimately, an earth spirit.

Melkith knew that well.

The foundation of spirit arts was understanding the essential nature of spirits. Even if ordinary people could not see them, they unquestionably existed.

A wind spirit could never become an earth spirit. An earth spirit could never become a flame spirit. A flame spirit could never become a water spirit...

"... The spirits of the World Tree."

Her expression rigid, Melkith looked behind her. Despite the sudden explosion, the World Tree saplings had not suffered so much as a scratch. She sensed the spirits of the World Tree circling among their branches.

Spirits dwelled in trees, too. They were not particularly popular among spirit mages, as their limitations were overwhelmingly greater than those of other spirits. In a forest, tree spirits were powerful enough that they could not be disregarded, but they were of little use anywhere that was not full of trees.

Even the World Tree was ultimately an enormous tree. But... those spirits were different from tree spirits.

With a hollow laugh, Melkith looked ahead.

Eugene was still seated as before, but the lightning flame was no longer in his hands. Instead, lightning dwelled in the flames of the Ring Flame Formula surrounding his body.

It was not ordinary lightning. It was spirit lightning... No, the spirits of the World Tree had become lightning. Rather than moving separately from the mana flames, it mingled with them as though they were one, sending electricity through the drifting embers.

["... Those are not lightning spirits,"] Levin murmured. ["I do not know lightning like that. Even my power cannot interfere with it."]

'Then what the hell is it?'

["... Unbelievable though it may be... that boy... has brought a new spirit into existence through his own power."]

Eugene was just as surprised. The explosion had startled him, as had the disappearance of the lightning flame and the spirits of the World Tree inhabiting the lightning.

["Unbelievable!"]

He was already startled enough, but Tempest was bellowing inside his head.

["Hamel! I never imagined such a thing could be possible. You have worked a miracle that no spirit mage or Spirit King has ever achieved!"]

Eugene did not bother answering. Instead, he focused deeply on the change that had occurred within him.

'... It hasn't disappeared.'

He looked down at his empty hands.

'The lightning flame has completely dissolved into my mana.'

["What you were manipulating was merely a mass of primal spirits...! But when the spirits of the World Tree were drawn into it, it became a new spirit!"]

'I know that too, so quiet down for a moment.'

Eugene took a deep breath and manipulated his mana.

CRACKLE!

As the flames intensified, the lightning grew stronger.

'Is it because the lightning flame was a special material?'

That probably was not it. This change had happened because the spirits of the World Tree had been drawn in. Eugene rose to his feet. He continued focusing on his mana and the spirits of the World Tree, but the drifting spirits no longer mingled with the lightning.

'Or because I'm special?'

Dying and reincarnating was more than enough reason to consider himself special. As far as Eugene knew, no one in this world except him had successfully reincarnated.

'Though perhaps they reincarnated and kept their mouths shut.'

It was not just his reincarnation. His previous life had been special as well. Even if he had been accompanied by extraordinary comrades, Eugene had been Hamel the Stupid, who had defeated three Demon Kings.

'... Mana control. The lightning flame. The spirits of the World Tree.'

No. Those alone were not enough.

'Eternal Hole.'

The power that had subdued the lightning flame.

'The Ring Flame Formula.'

Tempest kept calling it a miracle, but with every factor coming together, this was no miracle. It was inevitable. Having finished thinking it through, Eugene turned to Melkith.

"Lady Melkith. I have a favor to ask."

"Uh... Uh-huh. What?"

"The lightning flame. Please make another one for me."

She knew why he was asking. He wanted to test it again.

"... I can make one, but..."

He did not hear her out. Eugene floated up and approached a sturdy branch extending from a sapling. Strangely, he could tell which branches were safe to cut.

'... I can see them.'

He had not been able to before, but now he could see the spirits of the World Tree. They looked like clumps of opaque smoke, and among the many branches, there were a few around which no spirits circled.

In other words, those branches could be cut. Eugene cut off one thick branch and descended.

At the sight, Melkith swallowed involuntarily. However prestigious a tower master's position might be, fairy tree branches were difficult materials to obtain. And this was not just a fairy tree branch. A branch of the World Tree was a precious material rivaling a dragon heart.

"I'll give you this."

Eugene spoke as though doing her a great favor, and Melkith eagerly held out both hands to accept the World Tree branch.

"Heh... Hehe... Hehehe... Hehehe!"

Unable to contain her delight, she laughed with her shoulders shaking. Her current staff was also made from an old fairy tree branch, but a branch this thick could be used whole to make a magic staff.

"I'll make it. Of course I will! I'll go back to Aroth tomorrow and..."

"Right now."

"... Lady Anisilla said she was preparing a party..."

"If you don't want to, give it back."

"W-who said I didn't want to?! Actually, I don't really like parties. Parties... Not many mages like them. Yes. I'm a mage too, so I prefer studying alone somewhere quiet to a noisy party."

That was a lie. Melkith was crazy about parties. But she did not want to give up the World Tree branch already in her hands.

In the end, she returned to the Lionheart warp gate with the branch cradled lovingly in her arms.

It was ten days before she returned from Aroth.

Thunderstone was rare to begin with, and the White Tower had used up its entire supply making the first lightning flame.

So Melkith scoured even the black market on Bolero Street, paying out of her own pocket to purchase a fresh supply of thunderstone in bulk. She begged the alchemists under her command, who had spent several sleepless nights making the lightning flame, and even gave them gifts to get them back to work.

"It's bigger than last time."

That was true. Returning after ten days, Melkith showed him a larger lightning flame than before.

The Lionheart main estate, the forest, the elven village, the three saplings. Just as he had ten days earlier, Eugene sat before them and took the lightning flame in both hands.

The conditions were the same, too. Melkith established a barrier, and Eugene manipulated the lightning flame using the Ring Flame Formula.

"... Hmm."

He continued manipulating it for a long while.

"It isn't working."

Without clinging to it any longer, Eugene set the lightning flame down.

"... So it seems."

There had been a reaction throughout. His mana, blazing like flames, compressed the lightning flame into a smaller shape, then swelled it larger. But unlike before, the lightning flame did not seep into his mana, nor were the spirits of the World Tree drawn out.

"You don't look disappointed."

"I expected this."

Eugene smacked his lips and touched the lightning flame with a finger.

"The change happened once. That's how it came to dwell in me. That's all there is to it."

"... The change you underwent is unprecedented in the history of spirit arts. I, the great spirit mage Melkith El-Hayah, and the two Spirit Kings contracted with me guarantee it."

"Tempest said the same thing."

A flick of his finger pushed the lightning flame away. It quivered, then slipped straight back into the box it had come from.

"I've tested all sorts of things over the last ten days."

Eugene stood, brushing off his knees.

"This spirit supposedly born anew through me has the properties of lightning. But it isn't a lightning spirit."

He walked through the forest.

"Would it grow little by little? Or could I add to it? I spent ten days living in this forest, focusing on the spirits without a moment's rest... but no more spirits of the World Tree joined it."

With narrowed eyes, Eugene looked at the forest's trees. He could see the spirits of the World Tree circling between them, flying about as though playing tricks.

"It's like they're teasing me."

"... Teasing you? The spirits?"

"Yes. I beckon them over, but they don't come. It's not as though they run away when I approach, either. They're clearly nearby, but even when I reach out, I can't touch them."

"... Spirits don't have physical substance, after all."

"Yes. Those goddamn bastards won't do what I ask."

Chuckling, Eugene raised a finger.

CRACKLE!

Lightning shot from his fingertip. With her mouth half open, Melkith looked in the direction it had flown. Electric current lingered over the scorched ground.

"... Amazing."

Recovering from her surprise, Melkith murmured,

"A lightning spirit... No. Lightning dwells in your mana itself. Do you know what that means?"

"That it's completely different from spirit arts or magic."

"It's different from martial arts too! Mana is just mana. To make it something else, you have to turn it into magic through a formula."

Primal spirits had no selves. The spirits of the World Tree were no different. They were merely primal spirits dwelling in the World Tree.

"... Primal spirits are... the essence of all spirits. Another form of mana. They're mingled everywhere spirits exist, but higher-ranking spirits don't absorb them."

Melkith swallowed hard. She had used the lightning flame to help Eugene form his own contract with a lightning spirit.

He had not formed that contract. There was no longer any need. With lightning dwelling in his body and mana, why would he need a contract with a spirit?

"... Even after mingling with you, its properties haven't changed. Shall I be honest? Right now, I want to pin you down and dissect you. Any spirit mage—no, any mage—would want to do the same."

"Please keep it to your imagination. Don't actually try it."

"I'm curious."

A shiver ran through Melkith, and her eyes shone.

"What can you do with that unique power?"

"I've been experimenting with various things..."

He had tried all sorts of things over those ten days. No more spirits of the World Tree would join the lightning dwelling in his body. Even using a second lightning flame had made no difference.

This lightning had completely dissolved into his mana. But that did not mean it would be expended and exhausted. Just as his mana recovered, so did the lightning. Every time his mastery of the White Flame Formula advanced, the lightning would grow stronger as well.

After confirming that, Eugene stopped thinking of the lightning as something separate. Spirits or not, it was simply mana that tingled and crackled now. He could shoot lightning just as he shot mana. He could also infuse his flame-like sword force with lightning.

An amplification of power.

The same applied to the Ring Flame Formula: the White Flame Formula combined with Eternal Hole. He rotated his cores to form a single circle, then split and detonated the cores within it.

Now lightning was added to those explosions. They grew that much stronger, and the flow of mana that much more violent. It put as much strain on his cores as using Ignition.

But it was not a runaway reaction.

"I'm not used to it yet."

Eugene inhaled deeply, then exhaled. He repeated this for quite some time. Melkith watched with eyes full of anticipation.

Soon, she realized something. With every breath, Eugene's expression grew more rigid. It was not just his expression. His body was stiffening too. Melkith had never properly studied martial arts, but she knew what that meant.

'... Nerves?'

She found it puzzling. Melkith had been present at Eugene's duel with the Green Tower Master, and she had been with him even before it began. In the carriage headed for the Green Tower's plaza, both Melkith and Mer had worried about Eugene as they thought of the coming duel.

Yet he had never once shown any sign of nerves. From the moment he entered the carriage, he had been relaxed rather than nervous. He had not been the least bit frightened of facing an Eighth Circle archmage.

That had not changed after he left the carriage. Even as the duel began, Eugene had not been nervous. He had moved with the same effortless confidence he had shown beforehand and won.

"... Um... You haven't misunderstood something, have you?"

Melkith asked cautiously.

"I did ask what you could do with that power... but I didn't mean we should have a match or anything, you know?"

Had the kid misunderstood her and decided to attack her out of nowhere? Youthful hotheadedness could explain it. But Eugene did not answer her question. He simply stared ahead with a frown.

The reason for his nerves was simple.

'I don't want to embarrass myself...'

Of course he had no intention of attacking Melkith. These nerves were purely psychological, entirely his own doing. Eugene took a few more deep breaths, then activated the Ring Flame Formula.

He stepped forward.

Electricity crackled.

BOOM!

Melkith's mouth fell open at the sight unfolding before her. Like lightning... Yes, that had been "like lightning." No, not like it. Eugene had actually become lightning. It was so fast and explosive that there was no other way to describe it.

... The problem was that he had not been able to fully control that absurd acceleration.

"... Are you all right?"

Stammering, Melkith approached Eugene. Having shot forward as lightning, he had smashed through several trees before stopping. ... It had not been a clean stop. The ground bore clear tracks where his feet had dragged, and his final stance was unstable.

"... Ahem."

This was why he had been nervous. With his memories of his previous life intact, Eugene found it unbearably humiliating to be dragged along by power he could not control...

"Ah... This... Really... Ugh..."

"... I asked if you're all right."

"Of course, of course I'm all right. It doesn't even hurt, you know? You saw it too, White Tower Master."

"... I did. You were incredibly fast. Like a little lightning boy."

He was uninjured. Of course he was; he had wrapped himself in an Aura Shield before charging forward. But though his body did not hurt, his heart did.

'The speed itself is lower than with Ignition.'

Ignition did not merely drive his cores out of control. It also awakened his body. That was what allowed him to properly control that wildly rampaging power.

This "lightning," however, caused only his mana to explode. Eugene's mana control was absurdly good, but he struggled to put on the brakes. It was easy to mix it into individual moments to amplify an attack's power, but moving while containing this furious mana throughout his body was no easy feat.

"... Hmm."

Melkith rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Since it isn't ordinary mana anymore... why not leave it out of your martial arts and use it only for magic?"

"That would be a waste."

Magic was appealing. The deeper he delved into it, the more absurd things he could accomplish that were impossible through martial arts.

But that did not mean Eugene intended to give up martial arts.

"Besides, applying it to magic isn't easy either."

"Your mana's properties have changed... This is unprecedented, so I can't really give you any advice."

"Nothing for it, then. I'll just have to get used to Lightning Flash—"

"Lightning Flash?"

Melkith did not miss the words that slipped from Eugene's mouth.

"Is that the name you gave it?"

"..."

"So what you just used was White Flame Formula: Lightning Flash... or something like that?"

"..."

"Or Lightning Flash Formula? Lightning Flash White Flame Formula? Lightning Flash Flame Formula? White Flame Lightning Flash Formula?"

"Please be quiet."

"Your face is a little red, isn't it? Are you embarrassed about naming your own technique? Oh, what are you worried about? Naming a technique you've created is a privilege only you get to enjoy."

The corners of Melkith's mouth rose into a broad grin.

"Every mage has that dilemma... You've created an amazing spell, but coming up with an equally amazing name is quite difficult. And names, you see... You might choose one because you think it sounds cool, but to someone else, it could sound a little embarrassing and lame, you know?"

"..."

"But if you give it an ordinary name, it feels like you're belittling your own technique... and if you give it an overly grand name, you're embarrassed to tell anyone... Yes, I understand perfectly. Didn't I tell you? Every mage has that dilemma."

"I get it, so please..."

"I think Lightning Flash is fine. No, it's actually a little plain. How about Fire Thunder instead? Or Thunder Fire. Is that a bit much? Fire Bolt... Thunder Flame..."

"Magic!"

Eugene shouted. Melkith looked at him, still grinning.

"Magic. What about it?"

"I'll show you."

With a scowl, Eugene lifted his cloak and pulled out Akasha. But Akasha was not the only thing that came out.

"..."

Mer came with it, clinging to the staff. Her face showed how desperately she was holding back laughter. That face looked so much like Senya sneering at him that Eugene thumped Mer on the head before he realized it.

"Why are you hitting me?!"

"Because your laughing face pisses me off."

"I think Lightning Flash is a wonderful name. Hearing that simple yet intuitive name really makes me realize how much your taste has improved, Sir Eugene."

"His taste?" Melkith murmured.

Considering it revenge for the blow to her head, Mer continued.

"Compared with names like Asura's Frenzied Slaughter, Divine Aura of Destruction, Dead End, Ten Thousand Thunderbolts, or Lightning Counter, it's quite a good name, isn't it?"

"What kind of moron comes up with names that embarrassing? Oh, Ten Thousand Thunderbolts and Lightning Counter are pretty good, though. They sound like lightning."

"Shut up."

Suppressing his seething anger, Eugene raised Akasha. At the same time, he stuffed Mer, who was still clinging to it, back into the cloak.

"Stay in there!"

"Sir Eugene, how about Lightning Asura?"

"I said shut up!"

Eugene did not want to discuss this subject any further. Clear his mind. Concentrate. He steadied his wavering thoughts and pictured the formula.

The completed formula produced magic. Crackling lightning flames wrapped around his whole body and slowly descended to the ground. At the same time, Eugene rose into the sky.

Lightning spread over the ground, swaying and dancing.

"... You..."

How many times was she going to be astonished today? Her face pale, Melkith shook her head.

"You monster...!"

Though it was not exactly the same, Melkith recognized that sight... No, she recognized the spell Eugene had cast.

A spell the Green Tower Master, Generic Osman, had devised while creating his signature.

Divine Tree.

'He copied it just from watching?'

She could not possibly think of this as merely an extension of copying the magic inscribed on a cake...

It was impossible to see through the formula of an unfamiliar spell and reproduce it.

"Well, it's only a superficial imitation..."

Divine Tree was a Sixth Circle spell, but its formula was so difficult that reproducing it at the Sixth Circle was simply impossible. Eugene could cast even this superficial version only because he had used Akasha to understand the spell and received Mer's assistance.

"... You... had better not use that."

Melkith shook her head and murmured,

"If the Green Tower Master finds out you've stolen Divine Tree, he'll try to kill you no matter what it costs him in dignity."

"Of course he will."

Eugene snorted and dispersed the formula.

"I only cast it so you could have a look. I have no intention of using a spell like this."

Showing her Divine Tree had at least shut down Melkith's teasing.

"... A spell like this, he says..."

Melkith shook her head with a hollow laugh.